By Sreeju Sudhakaran
Metro In Dino’ Movie Review: A lot has changed since Anurag Basu last made Life in a… Metro back in 2007. Irrfan Khan and KK are no more. Shiney Ahuja’s career collapsed following rape allegations. Papon, despite #MeToo accusations, still works in the industry. Anurag Basu has since experienced both critical highs (Barfi!) and commercial misfires (Jagga Jasoos). And Kangana Ranaut… well, no comments. ‘Metro… In Dino’: Neena Gupta Surprised by Her Bigger-Than-Expected Role in Her Film, Calls Director Anurag Basu an Instinctive Genius. Now, nearly two decades later, Basu returns with Metro… In Dino, a spiritual successor that again tells multiple interlinked stories exploring modern love and relationships. As with the original, a live band sporadically appears, musically commenting on the lives of the characters – though this device, just like last time, starts to feel intrusive as the film begins to lag. Watch the Trailer of ‘Metro In Dino’: Unlike the first film, which was grounded in Mumbai, Metro… In Dino is geographically expansive, spanning several Indian cities – Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, and even Goa. Perhaps wanting to stick more to its title, metro stations and trains frequently feature, but their symbolic and literal purpose feels more cosmetic than meaningful. Possibly, Basu may be hinting at the growing sameness of India’s urban jungles, for aside from a few regional identifiers – Kolkata’s trams or Goa’s beaches – the film rarely differentiates the cities visually or thematically. In my review, I would try to dissect each track separately and how that works in favour of the movie. Or not. ‘Metro In Dino’ Movie Review – Akash and Shruti (Ali Fazal and Fatima Sana Shaikh) Akash (Ali Fazal) and Shruti (Fatima Sana Shaikh) are a young married couple who face a marital crisis when they get pregnant. Akash wants to quit his job to pursue music, while Shruti, having already sacrificed her own career, decides for his sake to abort their child and move to another city for work. This track wrestles with the passion-vs-responsibility conflict – further emphasised by a cheeky Imtiaz Ali cameo (Basu also makes an appearance in a song). A Still From Metro In Dino While the premise is emotionally rich in its setup of conflict, the execution ultimately fizzles out. The narrative direction feels too predictable, and the chemistry between the leads never quite lands. Akash’s frustrations and suspicions of infidelity make him a darker and more compelling character, whereas Shruti’s arc lacks clarity and resolution. There’s a layer of paradox in her predicament: she is falsely accused of infidelity by her husband, even though she knows his suspicions aren’t entirely unfounded – just misdirected. However, the way her character develops from this point onward undermines her earlier sense of individuality, which she seemed to retain just moments before. Fatima Sana Shaikh delivers a strong performance in the role, while Ali Fazal is decent, though his outburst scene comes across as somewhat jarring. ‘Metro In Dino’ Movie Review – Parth and Chumki (Aditya Roy Kapur & Sara Ali Khan) Parth, a travel vlogger, meets socially awkward Chumki when she accidentally trespasses into his apartment, mistaking it for hers – despite not even living in the same building (not sure if I had eye-rolled so much in recent times at the ludicrousness of this situation). They bond over shared vulnerabilities: she’s engaged to a textbook disposable fiancé while enduring workplace harassment; he’s a commitment-phobe dealing with emotional stagnation. A Still From Metro In Dino Unfortunately, this thread mirrors Konkona Sen Sharma and Irrfan Khan’s far superior storyline from the original film – without the depth or charm. Even the resolution feels recycled. Aditya Roy Kapur coasts on charisma, while Sara Ali Khan is serviceable, though her distracting hairstyle unintentionally overshadows her performance. ‘Metro…in Dino’ Star Pankaj Tripathi Remembers KK and Irrfan Khan Ahead of ‘Life in a… Metro’ Sequel Release. ‘Metro In Dino’ Movie Review – Kajol and Monty (Konkona Sen Sharma & Pankaj Tripathi) The only returning cast member, Konkona plays Kajol, Chumki’s elder sister, who is married to Monty. As their marriage stagnates, Monty’s flirtations on a dating app backfire when Kajol catfishes him using a fake profile. This segment -reminiscent of Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives (which was remade in Bollywood as Dil Kabaddi, also starring Konkona) and Anil Kapoor’s track in Salaam-e-Ishq – is arguably the most engaging. It effectively drives home the difficulty of emotionally walking away from a marriage, while also reinforcing the film’s central message: to keep a relationship alive, you must fall in love many times with the same person. A Still From Metro In Dino Tripathi brings his trademark understated humour, and Konkona, as always, does a wonderful job of adding emotional weight, especially in a scene where she rebukes her mother for asking her to forgive Monty. The story takes an unexpected romantic turn in Goa, involving a younger man (Rohan Gurbaxani), but it loses narrative focus trying to choose between a bold and a safe ending. There is also an inclusion of a sub-track involving their teenage daughter trying to figure out her sexual orientation, which needed a bigger space to feel explored, just like the feelings of the girl here. Instead, she is given lame advice from her aunt, who herself can’t figure out her life, like trying to kiss the people she likes and see if that gives her butterflies. Should have also told her about consent. ‘Metro In Dino’ Movie Review – Shivani and Parimal (Neena Gupta & Anupam Kher) Shivani, the mother of Kajol and Chumki, is a subdued housewife in a controlling marriage to Sanjeev (Saswata Chatterjee). Defying him, she attends a school reunion, where she reconnects with her old flame Parimal, a widower living with his devoted daughter-in-law (Darshana Banik, charming). A Still From Metro In Dino This bittersweet track has a strand that echoes Baabul and shines because of the performances. Gupta is effortlessly moving as a woman rediscovering her lost self. Kher is gentle and restrained, and even Chatterjee gets to stand out as the husband who finds late realisation of where he went wrong. The track does a graceful job of exploring late-life emotional fulfilment, though the conclusion feels safe. ‘Metro In Dino’ Movie Review – What Works and What Doesn’t Metro… In Dino does have glimmers of brilliance. A standout element is the evolving tone of the group video calls between Shivani and her daughters, from chaotic to tense to cathartic. The film’s conclusion cleverly mirrors its opening, with key characters finding their positions reversed. However, the film never gels as a whole. Much like Life in a… Metro, the ensemble format results in unevenness, but here, the shallowness of the individual narratives is more apparent. The writing lacks punch, and almost every storyline feels underdeveloped after a point. Towards the end, it is hard to feel anything for any of the characters or the storylines (save for a fleeting scene of a character cooking food in their kitchen alone). Technically, the film feels inconsistent. The overuse of Petzval lenses and shallow depth-of-field shots creates an artificial look that’s often jarring. In some scenes, such as when Parth and Chumki talk from separate train compartments, the green screen-like visuals are glaringly obvious and distracting. Even background characters sometimes appear digitally inserted, giving the film a strangely synthetic texture. ‘Metro In Dino’ Movie Review – The Music Unlike its predecessor, Pritam’s music in Metro… In Dino doesn’t give an instant, winsome feel. That said, “Zamaana Lage”, “Aur Mohabbat Kitni Karoon”, and particularly “Qayde Se” manage to grow on me. The musical interludes, where conversations become lyrical exchanges, hark back to Jagga Jasoos. It’s a bold stylistic choice, but tonally awkward at times -especially in a scene where a tragic backstory is relayed via an upbeat song. ‘Metro In Dino’ Movie Review – Final Thoughts Metro… In Dino, while charming in sparse moments, lacks the freshness needed to make its stories resonate in today’s landscape of complex, layered storytelling, which Anurag Basu once navigated so deftly. While performances, particularly by the veteran stars, often elevate the material, the film is ultimately weighed down by shallow writing, derivative plotting, and a visual dissonance that undermines its impact.